Cursed Rollerblades, Monsters, and a Skinned Knee
by Molloy
Summary: Can sixyearold Kim Possible defend her best friend Ron Stoppable against his childhood fears? And what does Ron fear most? Another preteen Team Possible adventure.


_Thanks to MrDrP and spectre666 for reading and reviewing my first story, "Raiders of the Lost Afikomen."_

Thanks to MrDrP for beta-reading this two months ago.

I do not own Kim Possible or Ron Stoppable or any other elements related to the show.

* * *

When Ron Stoppable turned six, his Aunt Naomi, the aunt who would later be half responsible for his evil cousin Shawn, gave him the ill-advised birthday gift of a set of rollerblades. Ron wasn't too pleased with the blades; in fact, they terrified him. It didn't help that when Aunt Naomi tried to open the box for Ron, one of the skates fell out of the box and clocked him on the head. From that moment on, they were "cursed" as far as he was concerned. He kept them under his bed, hoping the monsters who lived there might take them away. Even though the monsters never did, Ron felt better keeping the blades there because at least that way he would never have to look at them.

When his best friend Kim Possible turned six a few months later, she also received a pair of rollerblades. Although her aunt had viewed them as an ill-advised gift for a six-year-old, Kim had asked for them specifically. Ron knew Kim had thought they looked like fun when he got his set, but what he didn't know was that Kim had requested them so once she learned how to use them herself, she could teach him how to use his.

Ron loved watching his best friend zoom along on her skates. It had taken her only a week to master them. Not only was she keeping her balance on the single blade without any apparent effort, she was doing tricks. She exuded such confidence and grace that she seemed to glow. At times like this, watching her show off for him, Ron Stoppable had to shake his head in confusion. First, what had he ever done to deserve having such a talented, smart and pretty best friend? (Although the very idea of romance struck him either with indifference or, if the issue was pressed, nausea, even six-year-old Ron knew his friend was beautiful.) Second, why didn't she have more friends? What was there not to like about Kim?

As she twirled around her driveway in figure eight formations, Kim would always try and catch a sideways glance at Ron. Every time she did, his eyes were always on her. This never failed to give her a boost. Not because she needed an audience. Not at all. It was _how_ he looked at her. His eyes always glistened with pride and confidence at times like these. Pride and confidence _in her_. Whenever she wanted to do something she was not sure she could do, a glance back at Ron never failed to convince her that she could do anything. "Why doesn't he have more friends," she sometimes wondered. Sure, he was a little weird, but how could you go wrong with someone so loyal, caring, and ferociously friendly? And, she had to admit in a small corner of herself she rarely visited, Ron was cute. Although it didn't seem too likely, she still harbored the hope that her toddler twin brothers would grow into cute little boys like him.

Little did each suspect that it was their friendship that proved to be the main reason for their lack of other friends. At that point of childhood, most boys still considered girls to be "icky" and "the enemy." The fact that he hung out with one all the time (even if they didn't do typical "girl things" together) made Ron, more or less, a girl too in their eyes. Even though most girls her age didn't take such a hard line against the boys, it was undeniable that Ron was a _weird_ boy. Hence, as long as Kim and he were together (which was most of the time), the girls in her class tended to keep a reserved distance from Kim.

Kim came to a skidding stop a few feet from Ron, and he immediately started pumping his small fist in the air and shouted, "You rock, KP!"

"Thanks, Ron!" she smiled as she removed her helmet. "Ow!" She had caught one of her pigtails in the helmet strap. In a flash, Ron was at her side, carefully untangling her from where it had been caught. "Thanks, Ron," she sighed, "but I could have handled that." Sometimes he was a little too caring. "Ok, Ron, it's your turn."

"Turn? Turn for what?" Ron blinked.

"It's your turn to rollerblade."

"No, no, no, no, no, KP," Ron said shaking his head, his eyes closed and his arms crossed. "Those things are cursed. Besides I believe the monsters ate them."

Kim rolled her eyes. "I don't think 'the monsters' ate your rollerblades. Anyway, I wasn't talking about yours. I was talking about mine."

"Yours?" Ron now had his eyes open.

"Yes," Kim smiled. "You can see _they_ aren't cursed."

"Yeah, I guess," Ron mumbled, "but …"

"Please …?" Kim pouted.

"Nooooo! Not the puppy dog pout!" Ron screamed, covering is eyes far too late.

As Kim strapped her kneepads snugly to Ron, he stopped trembling quite so much. She had already loosened the straps on the helmet and placed it on his head and fitted him with her elbow pads. With the knees now done and his tremors down to a manageable level, it was time for the blades themselves.

Well, the trembling stopped but the whimpering began. He was sitting in the grass, and she was just edging on the first blade when he started mumbling the name of his imaginary friend "Rufus" over and over again. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and told him, "Ron if you really don't want to do this, you don't have to. But I think you'll really enjoy it. It's a lot of fun."

Ron looked up at his best friend and, with all the courage he could muster, said, "Ok, KP."

She smiled and finished putting on the blades. There was no more whimpering, and if he did anymore talking to "Rufus," it was in his head. She helped him up and steadied him with her body. "I'll be right here," she said over his shoulder.

He braced himself and let the downward slop of the Possibles' driveway lead him and Kim's hand guide him. A few scary moments aside, Ron was actually skating on his own--for short distances--in ten minutes.

"Hey! Look at me, KP!" he shouted happily. "I can do it!"

She clapped and beamed at him as he made his first unassisted turn. He had the balance down pretty well, and she knew that was the important part. "You rock, Ron!" she called.

Just at that moment, the Possibles' automatic sprinkler system burst to life, making Ron jump just enough to lose his balance. Kim, who was standing a few feet from him in the grass, saw him going down and without thinking launched herself in the air to his rescue. She landed right beneath Ron, breaking his fall. Since Ron had been screaming open-mouthed all the way down, he might have chipped his teeth on the pavement if it hadn't been for Kim.

"Are you okay?" they asked simultaneously.

Although she was out of breath and underneath Ron, Kim still managed to say, "Jinx! You owe me a soda."

"That makes five I owe you this week!" Ron groaned. "At this rate in just ten years I'll need like $100 million dollars to buy all the sodas I owe you!"

Kim tried to laugh, but it was difficult with Ron still on her back. He wasn't much bigger than she was, but he was still kinda heavy. "Uh, Ron, do you want to get off me now?"

"I don't know, KP, you're kinda comfy."

"GET OFF!" Actually, Kim wasn't that upset. In fact, his jokes reassured her that the fall hadn't sapped his confidence in his rollerblading abilities. Maybe later that afternoon, she could "rescue" his rollerblades from "the monsters," and they could go rollerblading together.

As she stood up, Ron startled her by screaming as if he had lost a finger. When Kim saw that he did, in fact, still have all ten digits, she immediately thought he was over-reacting to her yelling at him.

"Oh, Kim," he sniffled. Tears were pouring down his face. "I-I'm so sorry."

"Ron, I was joking. I didn't mean to yell at you," she began, really not sure what she was going to do. He was hysterical.

He stopped crying just long enough to shoot her a puzzled look. Then he started crying again and pointed to her right knee. Kim looked down and saw that she had badly skinned it. Other than some grass stains, the left one looked fine. When she dived to save Ron, she must have landed half-on and half-off the asphalt. The scrape was bleeding pretty badly and it did sting a good deal. However, it didn't justify Ron's "breakdown."

"Ron, I just skinned my knee. It's all right."

Poor Ron couldn't stop crying.

"It's fine, Ron. And _you_ didn't hurt me. It was an accident." She said this as calmly as she could; Ron's hysterics were starting to worry her. Absently, she started picking at pieces of gravel that were stuck in and around the wound.

Ron looked like he was going to pass out.

Kim reached out to steady him. She then said, looking straight into his eyes, "I am okay, Ron. It doesn't even hurt." Kim stepped back and started pumping her right leg in the air to prove that the knee could still move and didn't hurt that much.

Of course, this caused her knee to bleed all the more.

Ron completely lost it at this point.

Anne Possible knew that Kim was trying to teach Ron how to rollerblade, so when she heard his screams, she immediately thought he had broken an arm or a leg. She sprinted to the front door and ran to the driveway to assess the damage. What she saw both baffled and touched her. There was her daughter with a bleeding knee hugging her best friend who, although his body seemed encased in rollerblade safety gear and he didn't appear to be physically damaged in any way, was crying uncontrollably into Kim's shoulder. Kim gave her mother a look that attempted to be in the order of "what-am-I-going-to-do-with-him?" However, Anne could tell Kimmie was just putting on a brave face; she was really concerned about her friend. Anne realized that if Ron did not calm down and stop crying soon, her daughter, who _never_ cried, was going to start.

It took a couple of minutes, but, in between Ron's sobs, Kim was able to tell her mother what had happened. Unfortunately, neither was able to console him.

"Ron, honey, it is okay. Kimmie's all right."

"Please, Ron, listen to Mom. She's a doctor. I'm just worried about you."

Every time there was a lull in his crying it proved to be a false dawn. Ron was just catching his breath, so he could start up again full bore. Finally, Kim could take it no longer, and she started crying.

When he saw her tears, Ron finally choked out some words. "Stupid! Stupid! I hurt my best friend! Why? Why?"

Kim vigorously shook her head no.

Ron continued, "You are so beautiful, KP. I didn't mean to hurt you. Please … you're my best friend."

It was all patently ridiculous, but it was also obvious that to Ron's six-year-old mind it made perfect sense that, accident or no, he had been at fault and Kim was now damaged beyond any hope of recovery. The heartbreak and regret in his voice was so palpable that Anne had to fight back tears herself.

Kim hugged Ron's head to her chest, and, almost immediately, he started calming down. In less than a minute he had himself under control. He was still crying, of course, but he was no longer hysterical.

Anne led the two friends inside and reassured Ron that she would take good care of Kim. She got down some milk and cookies for them, and got the Neosporin and bandages. She had Kim sit up on the kitchen counter-top and placed the plate of cookies and glasses of milk next to her. There was no way Ron was going to leave his friend's side and sit at the table.

Anne began by cleaning off Kim's wound with soap and warm water. She patiently answered all of Ron's questions. No, Kimmie did not have blood poisoning. No, Kim was not going to have to get her leg amputated. No, her leg didn't have gangrene so it couldn't spread to Kimmie's brain (Where did he learn about gangrene?). She then applied the Neosporin, but not before whispering to Kim that it might sting a little and that she might want to fill her mouth with a cookie so Ron wouldn't know if she let out a cry. The subterfuge wasn't necessary; Kim didn't cry out. However, Ron did laugh when Kim stuffed an entire cookie in her mouth as a precaution. By the time Anne was putting on the bandage, even the red puffiness under Ron's eyes had started to fade.

"There. All better," Anne smiled as she finished applying the bandage. "Are _you_ all better, Ron?"

He nodded with the beginnings of a smile. Then Ron looked at Kim and she smiled down at him. He then looked down at her knee, hesitantly took a step forward, quickly took a step back, looked briefly back into Kim's eyes, darted forward, placed a swift kiss on Kim's bandage, and ran out of the kitchen, his face rapidly turning the color of Kim's hair.

"He is so weird." Kim said flatly.

"Yes, he is, dear," Anne agreed. "But he cares about you very, very much. I wouldn't be surprised if Ron turned out to be one of your true life-long friends."

"Of course, he will," Kim said hopping off the counter-top. "He's my best friend.

"Where are you two headed?"

"I have to go rescue Ron's rollerblades from some monsters."

"Okay, Kimmie," Anne answered without batting an eye, "have fun."


End file.
